Uniq. Eqpmt Sightings: Private Varnish (PV's), Charters, etc

[jhdeasy]

BIRCH GROVE and MOONLIGHT DOME
train 30(26) from CHI to WAS
train 89(28) from WAS to SAV

[mtuandrew]

...
At about the same time, NS office car MARCO POLO, an even longer resident of Washington Union Station, departed Amtrak's Ivy City S&I facility with a fresh air brake COT&S and inspection, in a special equipment move across the Potomac River to Norfolk Southern's Van Dorn Street Yard in Alexandria.

Thank you for answering a question I’d entirely forgotten I had. A few months ago I saw what must have been MARCO POLO at NS Van Dorn Yard while commuting home. It was too dark for me to see details from up the hill at WMATA Van Dorn Station, but I couldn’t figure out why there was a heavyweight car staged there unless there was a time warp to 1930.

It was gone before I could investigate the next day, or at least NS stashed it somewhere invisible to the public eye at Van Dorn. Do you know where it went?

[jhdeasy]

BIRCH GROVE and MOONLIGHT DOME
train 30(26) from CHI to WAS
train 89(28) from WAS to SAV

Bad-ordered at CHI on April 26. Revised movement is
train 30(27) from CHI to WAS
train 89(29) from WAS to SAV

BERLIN on train 51(28) from NYP to CHI.

[jhdeasy]

SWIFT STREAM is on train 20(28) from NOL to NYP. Currently operating 3 hours late on Monday morning.

[chuchubob]

Train 20(28) Crescent had NYC PV SWIFT STREAM at the rear of the consist.

[dgvrengineer]

Four PV's supposed to go out on SW Chief Thursday westbound to LA, including a full dome. We were supposed to go on CZ but at the last minute (last week Tuesday) Amtrak decided they couldn't handle 4 PV's because of "flooding". With all the rain today in Missouri, I hope the Chief will not be flooded out.

[jhdeasy]

Four PV's supposed to go out on SW Chief Thursday westbound to LA, including a full dome. We were supposed to go on CZ but at the last minute (last week Tuesday) Amtrak decided they couldn't handle 4 PV's because of "flooding". With all the rain today in Missouri, I hope the Chief will not be flooded out.

BERLIN, CIMMARON RIVER, PACIFIC UNION and SUPERDOME. Will probably have to operate on the head end of train 3 due to the Kansas City set-out coach on the rear.

I understand there is a new restriction on parking 4 private cars at Denver; three is okay but four is not allowed.

[dgvrengineer]

The Denver restrictions must be the reason, not flooding. I was really looking forward to spending a day in Denver.

[John_Perkowski]

HUH?

3-4 don’t get inside 100 miles ofDenver. That’s 5-6.

Is there an exception for Oakland, CA, to cut off PV from the Starlight and put them on the Zephyr?

[jhdeasy]

HUH?

3-4 don’t get inside 100 miles ofDenver. That’s 5-6.

Is there an exception for Oakland, CA, to cut off PV from the Starlight and put them on the Zephyr?

This move of 4 private cars was originally planned and advertised to go west from Chicago to Emeryville on train 5 with a layover in Denver. Then a few weeks before departure, Amtrak notified the car owners that it would not handle the cars on train 5; they would have to use train 3 to LAX, then train 14 to OAK, incurring the additional mileage expense from LAX to OAK plus the high (at more than $2000 it is the highest private car switch fee on the entire Amtrak system) for switching the cars off train 14 at OAK.

Private cars can be switched off trains 11 or 14 at OAK, but they can not be added to trains 11 or 14 at OAK. Thus the only way out of the SF Bay Area for a private car is train 6 to CHI.

[jhdeasy]

Amtrak has informed the Gulf Coast Chapter NRHS (based in Houston TX) that they are the successful bidder for Amtrak Heritage diner 8527. This car was built by Budd in 1950 as SP 10212, one of six dining cars, with the “Audubon Dining Room”, for assignment to the newly streamlined Sunset Limited. The Chapter plans to include the car in the proposed Texas Railroading Heritage Museum in Tomball TX.

[Tadman]

Interesting that they would sell a diner but scrap Ocean View

[jhdeasy]

BIRCH GROVE and MOONLIGHT DOME
train 90(04) from SAV to WAS
train 29(05) from WAS to CHI

[John_Perkowski]

Interesting that they would sell a diner but scrap Ocean View

I will bet you at some point cooler heads prevail, and it will be sold with a covenant not to run as a PV on Amtrak.

[Tadman]

I hope so. It would be a waste of public funds not to hold an auction with the starting bid at scrap value minus environmental remediation costs + $1. Potential buyers must sign a piece of paper stating they will haul it away before COT&S is invalid and then never move it by Amtrak again. There are potential buyers out there - the bigger museums, Alaska, GCRY, etc... The thing is, it's in reasonably good shape so it wouldn't require immediate uses of museum funds to stabilize or store. That's a big concern.